Author: Vintage Treasure Chest

When at last Mary could no longer hide from herself the seriousness of her father’s illness, she went to the minister of the parish in which Pine Cottage was situated and asked him to come and visit her father.

The winter had now set in with threats of severity. Already the mountain and valley around the farm were covered with deep snow. The weakness which old James had been feeling for some time now culminated in a severe illness.

James and his daughter were now settled in a place they could call home; they furnished their rooms in a simple style, with nothing more than they needed for everyday wants.

Although their hearts were thus sustained by faith in God, the journey on which Mary and her father now started was a long and painful one. For days they were unable to find lodging, and the little money with which they had started was at last exhausted, and they had no prospect of earning more.

In the village of Eichbourg, the case of Mary and the missing ring was the only subject of conversation, and many were the speculations as to what the result of the case would be. At the period when Mary lived, the crime of theft was always visited with severe punishment, and in many cases, the…

Not for a long time had the judge been so perplexed as he was over Mary’s case. “For three days,” he said, “it has been before us, and we have not made the least advance towards the solution of the mystery. If I could see any possibility of the ring having been taken by anyone…

Early in the morning, and almost before she was awake, an officer came to Mary’s cell to bring her out for trial. At the sight of the room in which the court was held she trembled, and her fears returned.

We have already said that Mary was in a faint when she was carried off to prison. When she recovered to realise her condition, she burst into passionate sobbing, but at length, clasping her hands together, she fell down on her knees in prayer.

Shortly after Mary had left the castle, the countess missed a valuable diamond ring. No one had been in the room where she had left it but Mary, and it is not surprising that suspicion fell upon the humble flower-girl.

One day, early in the merry month of May, Mary went into the woods near her home to get some branches and twigs from the willow and hazel trees. When her father was not busily engaged in the garden, he occupied his time in making baskets of all sorts, and particularly lady’s work-baskets.